creative ways to give your children vegetables?

I'm not a mother but when i was a child, for me one of the best meals was vegetables dipped in fondue. I even ate broccoli and such

Food processed into spaghetti sauce! Or else I have made veggie burgers made out of black beans, onions, garlic, processed peppers and mushrooms. You would have to google for a recipe because I just wing it. I have a three year old who's favorite food is broccoli so I guess I am lucky but I do the processed sneaky things more just to make sure the food is healthier. I have also heard of some kind of veggie chicken nuggets but have never looked them up or tried them. You could also buy the deliciously prepared fresh juices they usually sell in produce sections, just read the labels to make sure its fruit and vegetable juice and not full of sugar.

Saute shredded carrots in a little olive oil with a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar added right at the end. It tastes like a dessert and the kids will love it. After they get used to eating the carrots, reduce the sugar each time you cook it. At this age you're just trying to get them to associate veggies with a nice taste.

I put the veggies on the plate and say "eat them". There's no other option at my house; I do not run a restaurant. That being said, I always serve fresh veggies, either steamed, grilled, or broiled. No sauces, just some butter or olive oil, bit of sea salt and pepper. Brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, and green beans are the ones I serve most often.

Mother of 4.

i have a 5.5 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl, we didn't leave room for options when it came to veggies with our kids, we tried to have them at lunch + dinner as much as possible - even the Mac n Cheese nights there was steamed brocoli or cauliflower in everyones bowls - adults included. My best advice would be to make it part of finishing supper,ie "no dessert if you don't eat X amount of veggies" and stick to it, also offer it to them as bedtime snacks if they complain about being hungry. Sorry if that seems harsh but it has worked for us. Toddlers/preschoolers are all about testing the waters and trying to push boundaries.

Also portion sizes, try not to overwhelm them with large portions of "new" things ( in this case the veggies you want them to eat) we generally stick to this example ie 2 tbsp of veggies cause you are 2...or whichever ages you are dealing with. Kids meals at restaurants are horrible examples of proper serving sizes, most of the time they would serve an adult just fine.

Try offering cooked/steamed/however you like to make them veggies instead of raw/hard ones, at 2.5 their molars aren't usually fully exposed if at all and it's pretty hard to chew things like baby carrots! I remember thinking my boy wasn't going to like raw veggies because he preferred them cooked when he was younger and after he turned 4 he seemed to enjoy them more and be able to eat them easier.

Last thins is....don't stress too much, it's hard as a mom but if your child is growing + healthy + getting nutrients from fruit + other whole foods, don't let it get you don't. I fully believe that kids who see their parents enjoying a healthy diet + trying new things ( how about a green spinach smoothie) that they will be open to trying new things as well. 2.5 is still young!!

happy cooking!

ps both of my kids still don't like mashed potatoes but they love beets, spinach smoothies and curried cauliflower soup!

I put the veggies on the plate and say "eat them". There's no other option at my house; I do not run a restaurant. That being said, I always serve fresh veggies, either steamed, grilled, or broiled. No sauces, just some butter or olive oil, bit of sea salt and pepper. Brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, and green beans are the ones I serve most often.

Mother of 4.

This is actually an..interesting...idea! Serve veggies with something SUPER disgusting (to a kid) like ... full shrimp (with eyes!), or brown rice! The child is sure to pick the veggies up then!

I have also heard of maybe giving the child options like for a snack saaaay "you can have either carrots with ranch or...whole wheat rice" or "celery with cheese or fibre one bar!" (the 1st time, the child will pick the fibre one...but after that - never again!)

Keep offering. Seeing the food is exposure to it. Touching it is good too. Kids need exposure to a food they don't like dozens of times before they try it. Keep calm and believe its simple. They can sense when we are anxious. Put your child in situations where he sees other children eating veggies, don't talk about it, he'll see. He might not copy there and then but it will be stored for later

I use my ninja and whip veggies into everything. For example if I am making rice. I will put some tomatoes and carrots into the ninja with some water and measure that for the liquid needed to make the rice.

My tomato sauce is liquified eggplant, zucchini, onions, celery and carrots.

I do this as much as I can in everything. It slowly acclimates their taste buds to veggies. My daughter used to hate mushrooms. I would grind them to dust and use them. She'd say iwww I hate mushrooms. I laughed in her face and said she had been eating them for years. She eats them now no fuss.

Got to be tricky about it.

It's hard to get a HUSBAND to eat veggies too! I've found a mashed cauliflower works great for mashed potatoes! For lasagna, make a meatless one, with some veggies (broccoli, etc) instead. It's about consistency of the food! I've also had miracle or super noodles that replace pasta. It's made from veggies!